Ovarian cancer is responsible for the majority of gynecologic cancer deaths. In 2004, in the United States, 25,580 new cases were diagnosed and 16,090 women died of ovarian cancer.
The disease is more common in industrialized nations, with the exception of Japan. In the United States, females have a 1.4% to 2.5% (1 out of 40-60 women) lifetime chance of developing ovarian cancer. Older women are at highest risk.
Although intraperitoneal chemotherapy has been recommended as a standard of care for the first-line treatment of ovarian cancer, the basis for this recommendation has been challenged. Radiation therapy is not effective for advanced stages because when vital organs are in the radiation field, a high dose cannot be safely delivered. Surgical therapy is also not also effective.
Despite the initial successful multimodality therapy with cytoreductive surgery and subsequent combination chemotherapy, most patients with advanced disease will ultimately relapse and become incurable. For this reason, novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of this malignancy are urgently needed.
Ovarian cancer in particular appears to be suited to adoptive transfer approach based on the fact that the ovarian tumors are relatively immunogenic, inducing an endogenous T cell response.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improved therapeutic modalities to provide anti-tumor immunity, and thereby treat ovarian and other cancers.